PVC TUBES
The water softening industry is very competitive. In the marine and RV industry some companies have claimed to reinvent it by offering a resin packed horizontal PVC tube and calling it a “softening” or “wash down” system.
You may have seen these units from various manufacturers (7 at last count), all claiming to be “the best” or “industry standard”. We understand why there are so many competitors, consider the profit from gluing a couple of caps on a PVC tube packed with resin and selling it for $500 to $800. Cha Ching!
We’re not sure what “industry” some of these companies are speaking of as no horizontal PVC tube has yet to be recognized by the water conditioning industry to be an effective softening system, thus making it difficult to become a “standard”.
Keep in mind that true softening systems operate in the upright or vertical position. This is due to their design and internal workings.
The truth is that horizontal PVC tubes (we don’t call them softeners) are based on a flawed design that will eventually fail. They’re not serviceable and are constructed of less than durable materials. Not only do some manufacturers exaggerate their claims, they mislead you with their measurements.
Why are these PVC tubes flawed?
There are many reasons, but we’ll focus on the three most important ones.
1 – A packed tube has no freeboard
2 – Resin bed will settle
3 – Inferior components
No Freeboard
Every softening system requires “freeboard”. Freeboard is the necessary empty space in a tank that allows for proper backwashing (or regeneration) of a softening system.
Brine (salt water) is back flushed through the system to remove the trapped minerals. During this process sodium (salt) ions are exchanged for calcium and magnesium (hardness) ions. The brine must pass through all of the resin to ensure a complete and effective regeneration. If the tube has no freeboard, the brine can not effectively regenerate all of the resin in the tank. Since only part of the resin is working at full capacity, the performance will continue to deteriorate over time, eventually becoming useless.
Settling Down
Once the resin compacts and settles, there will be a cavity in the top portion of the tube. This cavity allows water to pass through the system untreated as water will always take the path of least resistance.
Since not all of the water passing through the tube is being treated, exactly how much soft water are you actually getting?
PVC
PVC is not a UV stable material and will degrade over time when exposed to sunlight. A label or a coat of wax won’t prevent the inevitable. After a while, PVC will become brittle and will crack or break, causing leaks, or even worse, expelling the resin onto the ground. It’s not easy or practical to fix a cracked PVC tube and your only solution is to replace the unit which translates into more money! So now you’re faced with spending more money to replace an ineffective system with a newer version of the same thing. How much is that costing you?
While there are more valid points, like claimed size & capacity vs. actual size & capacity, channeling and unit cost, the above three are the most important facts to consider when deciding to purchase a portable softening system.
If this information is not convincing, then ask yourself - When was the last time you saw a horizontal PVC tube being used as a water softener in a home or commercial application? The answer is easy - You have not nor will you.